Pinchas Gutter is a Canada-based Holocaust survivor, educator, and frequent guest lecturer. His ordeal during World War Two is hard to put into words, but it included seeing his parents and sister being killed by the Nazis at an extermination camp.
In recent years Gutter has received additional public attention as one of the pioneers in the Dimensions in Testimony project. It involves producing a life-sized interactive biography that can be displayed into classrooms, lecture halls, and museums.
In the production phase, and as the initial participant, Gutter spent a week answering over 2,000 questions while being filmed in a lattice-like dome with 20 cameras — a setup fitted to capture every angle in preparation for the holograms of the future.
Whilst probably no one should ever be tempted about comparing the public relevance of their personal vital testimony to Gutter’s, I do think we should pay more attention to the transferring of encapsulated knowledge. Particularly to our own relatives in future generations.
This might take the –more traditional– form or a written book, audio files, or video footage, or be the result of a fully rolled out version of a hologram-based self-directed project. What is important is that we do not rob those who will follow in our footsteps –or chose to take a very different path– of their genuine desire to dig deeper into our deeply personal experience.
I do know I wish that postmortem connection with my ancestors was available to me — starting with my own father.
